St. Landry democrat., 1887-08-20
large-hearted charity, and such magnif

large-hearted charity, and such magnif.
cent martyrdom, ought to win our atfec-
| tion--at any rate, our respect. So come on,
We four hundred thousand Episcopalians
| in this country, and We eight hundred
thousand Presbyterians, and we two and
half million Baptists, and we nearly
three and three-quarter million Method
! ists-come on, shoulder to shoulder we
will march for the worlds conquest; for
all nations are to be saved, and God de-
mands that you and I help to do it..
! Forward, the whole line.
| Moreover, we may also overthrow the
| feeling of severe sectarianism by joining
other denominations in Christian work.
like when the spring-time comes and
the anniversary occasions begin, and all
denominations come upon the same plat
form. That overthrows sectarianism
In the Young Mems Christian Associa-
ton, in the Bible Society, in the Tract
Society, in the Foreign Missionary So
ciety, shoulder to shoulder all denomina-
tons.
Perhaps I might more forcibly Illus
trate this truth by calling your attention
to an incident which took place fourteen
or fifteen years ago. One Monday morn
ing at about two o'clock, while her nine
hundred passengers were sound asleep in
her berths dreaming of home, the steamer
Atlantic crashed into Mars Head. Five
hundred souls in ten minutes were
landed into eternity! Oh, what scene!
AgoniZed men and women running up
and down the gangways, and clutching
for the rigging, and the plunge of the
helpless steamer, and the clapping of the
hands of the merciless sea over the
drowning and the dead, threw two con-
tnents into terror But see this brave
quartermaster pushing out with the
lifeline until he gets to the rock;
and see these fishermen gather
ing up the shipwrecked and taking
them into the cabins, and wrapping
them in the flannel snug and warm; and
see that minister of the Gospel, with
three other men, getting into life-boat,
and pushing out for the wreck, pulling
away across the surf and pulling away
until they saved one more man, and then
getting back with him to the shore. Can
those men ever forget that night? And
can they ever forget their companion
snip in peril, companionship in struggle,
companiOnship in awful catastrophe and
rescue? Never! Never! In whatever
part of the earth they meet, they will be
friends when they mention the story of
that awful night when the Atlantic
struck Mars Head
Well, my friends, our world has gone
into worse shipwreck. Sin drove it on
the rocks. The old ship has lurched and
tossed in the tempests of six thousand
years. Out with the lifeline! | do not
care what denomination carries it. Out
with the life-boat! do not care what
denomination rows it. Side by side, in
the memory of common hardships, and
common trials, and common prayers,
and common tears, let us be brothers
forever. We must be. We must be.
One army of the living God;
To whose command we bow;
Part of the host have crossed the food,
And part are crossing now.
And | expect to see the day when all
denominations of Christians will join
hands around the cross of Christ and re-
cite the creed: II believe in God the
Father Almighty, Maker of Heaven and
EARTH and in Jesus Christ, and in the
Communion of Saints, and in the life
everlasting" May God inspire US all
with the largest-hearted Christian
abor